[ODE] Geist3D, ODE and Open-source

[Megan Fox]

> Since I have implemented my own scene graph there is a lot of overlapping
> data. For each data member in the ODE engine there exists the same member in my
> own scene tree nodes. The problem is that I also have Python bindings and
> Python requires that you pass to the interpreter a struct containing the
> members in order to ensure fast access. In ODE all of the members are hidden
> and they cannot be presented in the way that python expects them. So, I am
> considering to remove the outer layer of ODE and replace/merge the structs i.e.
> dxBody, dxJoint with my own node types. This way, they will only have one
> memory address, ensuring good performance and consistency. There is a similar
> problem with the bounding boxes, because they are important for occlusion
> culling which, as far as I know, ODE does not do. Now, how can I combine ODE
> and Geist3D so that any further development benefits both sides. Not to mention
> all of the discussions about Bullet and GJK... If I do this, how much support
> can I expect from the ODE community and how can we combine our efforts.

Why not just leave the libraries separate?  You're going to get some
data duplication, yes, but we're not living in 1995 - we're using C++
(well, most of us), .NET, etc, a little data duplication for ease of
use and portability/reuse of code/sanity is worth it.

I've simply wrapped my engine around ODE, and I have no complaints.


... and I would suggest you use the BSD license, simply because it
makes whatever you create more useful to everyone.  LGPL'ing it will
tend to make commercial entities (and those that might become
commercial) shy away from its use; If that's your intention, then go
right ahead with LGPL, otherwise go with BSD.


Cool app, I'll have to take a peak at it.

--
-Megan Fox
http://shalinor.circustent.us/megan/resume/